When it comes to fundraising, the tried and true methods are still practiced: bake sales, car washes, and raffles. Increasingly though, organizations like QAC Operation Wallacea are turning to crowdsourcing, using sites like Indiegogo, GoFundMe, and Kickstarter to raise resources in the digital age. The idea is fairly straightforward: present your pitch, offer supporters a series of perks relative to their level of donation, and encourage them to share your link with their social media contacts. The final point is often the most important. Successful crowdsourcing campaigns rely on modest donations from many supporters rather than trying to court one or two large checks from wealthy donors. In the information age, it’s necessary to have an interesting story in order to stand out from the steady stream of pictures and words that blur by most people’s eyes on a daily basis.
Gretchen Mann, a high school teacher in Queen Anne’s County, believes she has such a story. “In 2013 we formed QAC Operation Wallacea to take eight high school students from Queen Anne’s County to Honduras for two weeks. For some of these students, it was their first time leaving the United States. At least one had never even been on a plane before.”
Operation Wallacea is an organization that facilitates conservation research through academic partnerships. The students spent their first week hiking through the rugged terrain of the Cusuco National Park cloud forest. They lived in a primitive campsite, with no electricity or running water. Meals were cooked over an open fire, and the bathroom facilities were little more than a trench in the ground. But the students did not complain. In fact these were exactly the kinds of adventures the group had sought out. They learned to go out “in the field” with conservation biologists and doctoral students as they surveyed amphibian populations, testing for chytrid fungus (a disease that does not affect humans, but has already rendered many amphibian species extinct). Mrs. Mann’s students learned how to swab the amphibians’ DNA and record the information into a database that is accessible to scientists all over the world.
The second week of their Honduras experience was spent on the white sand beaches of Tela Bay. After learning how to scuba dive and receiving their PADI Open Water Diving certification, the group spent a few days exploring the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. Here they worked in tandem with researchers and conservation biologists to catalog the biodiversity, as well as the presence of invasive species along a particular coral reef. The hope is to get this reef incorporated into the system of protected Honduran reefs.
In the summer of 2015, QAC Operation Wallacea plans to return to Honduras with five students (4 new and 1 returning) and two teachers. “It is important to me that my students understand the value of being worldly,” said Mrs. Mann. “By giving them the opportunity to travel and see some of the environmental issues that other countries are facing, and how the U.S. is impacting these issues, I hope to instill in them a sense of responsibility for sustaining their global environment.”
But first, they need to be able to afford to get there. The entire trip costs around $21,000, or $3,000 per participant. Through a variety of traditional fundraisers, they have earned $4,700 to date.
“I don’t want a student to be turned away for financial reasons. We believe we have a compelling story, and if enough people share our story and contribute, we can raise the resources to make this trip possible for every interested student. We started a crowdsourcing campaign on Indiegogo. Two weeks ago we launched the website with a goal of $3,000. You have to be realistic with your goals, because if they’re not met within 60 days, Indiegogo takes a larger percentage of the funds (9% for unmet goals, 4% for met goals). Currently, we’ve raised $1,100 with 44 days to go. Hopefully, if we can get more people to share this link, we can soar past that $3,000 goal.”
Mrs. Mann hopes people will take the time to click on their link, watch the video, and perhaps donate to their cause.
“Even if you can’t donate, I hope you’ll share our story with your contacts,” said Mrs. Mann, “The more people that take the time to hear our story, the better chance we have of giving another group of bright, motivated students from Queen Anne’s County the opportunity to experience something that can truly be transformative.”
QAC Operation Wallacea
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